Using Biophilic Design to Enhance Resilience of Urban Parks in Semarang City, Indonesia

Abstract

Biophilic design is an approach for creating resilient, sustainable cities by constructing resilient buildings that connect humans and nature by integrating natural adaptation and aesthetic appeal in urban spaces. Biophilic design enables improved climate resilience and mental health. Semarang City in Java, Indonesia is a concrete jungle metropolis that will benefit from the application of biophilic design. Although several urban parks are constructed in public areas, certain design elements remain extremely simple. For example, the vegetated-setting context remains minimal and unable to generate sufficient interest in community physical activities. Hence, the connection between humans and nature is limited, which demonstrates the lack of biophilic design. Thus, the study aims to investigate the use of biophilic design in urban public spaces by promoting resilience. This research uses a quantitative method and analytical tools. Questionnaires and field observations were used to collect data. The study investigated the effectiveness of urban parks on mental health, climate resilience, need for urban park design elements, and the design of urban parks. The study identified three parks with the highest increases in land surface temperatures from 2011 to 2021, which indicates that incorporating biophilic design elements into these locations should be considered. More than half of the users at these parks preferred biophilic design elements, which are effective in lowering air temperature, blending with the surrounding nature, and promoting calming, cost-effective, and beneficial mental and physical health. Using these biophilic elements, the average temperature of the parks could be decreased by approximately 0.5 °C.